Many known ready to use dough products require the use of a cold chain, from the production of the dough to distribution and storage at the consumer level. These dough products have drawbacks since breaks sometimes occur in the cold chain. An additional drawback is that the product must be brought slowly to an optimum temperature prior to consumer use, thereby requiring an additional processing step.
Some ready to use dough products, which require a cold chain, incorporate a sterilization step in the processing of the dough. However, the organoleptic quality of sterilized foods is, in some cases, unsatisfactory. In fact, some products do not withstand sterilization at all.
Alternately, preservatives may be incorporated into ready to use dough products. The amount of preservatives that can be used is extremely limited, however, due to regulatory constraints. Thus, the shelf life of dough products is not increased appreciably by the use of preservatives.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,034 is an example of a shelf-stable dough which incorporates a preservative in its composition. The dough composition claimed therein has a moisture level of 18-26% and contains an amylaceous component, a portion of which is gelatinized and a portion which is ungelatinized. It also contains shortening, a dough plasticizer, a mold and yeast inhibitor in small amounts, and a chelating agent to prevent browning at warm storage temperatures. Due to regulatory limitations, only small amounts of yeast and mold inhibitors can be used. Thus, the shelf life of this dough is not increased significantly by the use of preservatives.
Intermediate moisture foods are also known to have shelf-stability. The water activity of intermediate moisture food products is fixed at a mean value of about 0.6 to 0.9 to inhibit microorganism growth. There are, however, disadvantages to an intermediate moisture pastry dough product, which, of course, is flour-based. While the water activity of the pastry dough can be stabilized by using chemical depressors to form an intermediate moisture product, the dough lacks the desirable qualities of pastry dough relating to plasticity, texture, appearance and taste after baking.
The present invention is an attempt to overcome the limitations of known shelf-stable ready to use pastry doughs by providing a process for preparation of an intermediate moisture dough product which can be kept at ambient temperatures for at least twelve months without deteriorating in quality and which, when baked, closely resembles, with respect to texture, appearance and taste, a pastry product prepared from home-made dough.
A further improvement in the art that is taught herein is an inactivation method for the flour used in the dough product. The flour inactivation method facilitates preparation of a pastry product having the desirable culinary properties of pastry prepared from a home-made dough, as well as having increased storage-stability.